Acherontia styx
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Acherontia styx, the lesser death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a sphingid moth found in Asia, one of the three species of death's-head hawkmoth. It is very fond of honey, and beekeepers have reported finding dead moths in their hives as a result of bee stings. They can mimic the scent of bees so that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their tongue, which is stout and very strong, enables them to pierce the wax cells of the beehive and suck the honey out. They are also known to be a pest of yuzu (Citrus junos) in South Korea, using their tongue to pierce and damage the fruit.
This species is similar to the European A. atropos but differs in having two medial bands on the underside of the forewing, instead of one, and usually no dark bands across the ventral surface of the abdomen. The skull-like marking is darker and there is a faint blue tornal dot enclosed by a black submarginal band on the hindwing upperside. The forewing discal spot (stigma) is orange; in A. atropos it is usually white. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Death's Head Hawkmoth sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 237th most-seen of the 376 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, June, August and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Death's Head Hawkmoth in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in February–May, July, September and December, the lowest months. Those are among Chennai's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in February.
11th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Eastern Death's Head Hawkmoth sightings, Chennai ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Jodhpur (India, about 30%), Doha (Qatar, about 20%) and Vadodara (India, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Death's Head Hawkmoth is recorded against all the insects logged in Chennai (9 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
